{"id":716495,"date":"2026-06-21T01:12:07","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:12:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/716495\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T01:12:07","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T01:12:07","slug":"insider-on-alex-ovechkins-future-capitals-management-has-a-pretty-good-level-of-understanding-of-where-things-are-trending","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/716495\/","title":{"rendered":"Insider on Alex Ovechkin\u2019s future: Capitals management \u2018has a pretty good level of understanding of where things are trending\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

While Alex Ovechkin\u2019s<\/a> future in the NHL is currently unknown, one NHL insider added some additional reporting from the Washington Capitals\u2019<\/a> end.<\/p>\n

According to The Athletic\u2019s Pierre LeBrun<\/a>, the Caps\u2019 front office \u201chas kept the lines of communication open with [Ovechkin] since the end of the season, and there\u2019s a pretty good level of understanding of where things are trending, but everyone involved just wants to make sure No. 8 is 100 percent sure before committing to his decision, either way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Where things are trending is ambiguous, but judging by past comments from Ovechkin and other available context, the reporting seems to suggest that the front office anticipates the captain returning for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n

After the Capitals\u2019 regular-season finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a>, a 2-1 win, Ovechkin told the media<\/a>, \u201cI hope it\u2019s not my last game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Days later, at Capitals\u2019 Breakdown Day, Ovechkin was slightly stronger with his wording<\/a>, saying, \u201cI think, honestly, I\u2019m pretty sure it\u2019s not my last game.\u201d He further explained that his decision would come down to how the Capitals are positioned for next season, how his family feels about a return, and how his body is feeling. <\/p>\n

Since then, other reporting published over the summer has said that Ovechkin\u2019s decision would also be whether to retire from the NHL or come back for one final season<\/a> in what would be a goodbye tour.<\/p>\n

Ovechkin also said himself in a Russian-language podcast that he would announce his decision in July<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s not a secret,\u201d he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ovechkin has been noticeably keeping himself in good shape as he ponders his future<\/a>, playing padel and hitting the weight room with his wife Nastya and close friend Gus.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s also been spotted on social media playing soccer and volleyball while on vacation in Turkey.<\/p>\n

Ovechkin is committed to playing at least one more game; he\u2019s set to play in the Russian \u201cMatch of the Year,\u201d an annual charity game that stars from both the NHL and KHL suit up for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While Alex Ovechkin\u2019s future in the NHL is currently unknown, one NHL insider added some additional reporting from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-716495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}